Marshall man’s student visa revocation, detention might be linked to George Floyd protest

Supporters of a Marshall, Minn., man detained by federal immigration authorities allege the revocation of his student visa and subsequent arrest are potentially linked to his participation in a 2021 protest against police killings of Black men.

Aditya Wahyu Harsono, 33, an Indonesian citizen, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his workplace in Marshall on March 27, according to his wife and court documents submitted by his attorney.

His F-1 student visa had been revoked four days prior, an action he had not been informed of, his wife and lawyer said.

Harsono is being held in ICE custody at the Kandiyohi County jail, a locator page on the agency’s website says.

This is despite Harsono having pathways to legal U.S. residency, with a pending application for a green card filed through his wife, Peyton Harsono, a U.S. citizen.

His attorney, Sarah Gad of Minneapolis, said her client has maintained legal status since his arrival and his applications should allow him to stay in the country.

“Even with his student visa revoked, he’s still authorized to remain in the U.S. while his immigration petition is processed,” Gad said in an email Thursday.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reached out to ICE for comment on Harsono’s detention and the U.S. Department of State for the rationale for his student revocation.

A State Department spokesperson said the agency does not comment on specific cases, citing privacy and added that all travelers into the country undergo vetting.

“The Trump Administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” the department said.

Court records say the official reason given for Harsono’s detention was that he overstayed his student visa, which had been revoked four days before his arrest in March, purportedly due to a past misdemeanor conviction for property damage.

But his wife believes the timing and circumstances point to something else. Peyton Harsono, 24, said she believes her husband was targeted for his arrest at a protest in 2021.

On April 16 of that year, Harsono was one of about 1,000 people demonstrating over George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police and the recent death of Daunte Wright by police in Brooklyn Center.

Police said they arrested Harsono at the protest 13 minutes after the 11 p.m. curfew.

Although the charge against him from that period — presence at an unlawful assembly — was dismissed, Peyton Harsono alleges that agents cited the incident when detaining him. His attorney agreed.

Gad in an interview said federal officials seemed more interested in her client’s history of political protesting than his criminal record.

“It was actually their first exhibit in their memorandum opposing bond, not the actual conviction plea petition for the misdemeanor damage to property,” Gad said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in March the country had a right to revoke visas for students who “participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, [and] we’re not going to give you a visa.”

Harsono’s public criminal record includes a 2022 misdemeanor conviction for damaging property — for spraying graffiti on trailers, for which he completed probation.

Harsono first came to America a decade ago and has been in the country legally on student visas, his wife said.

He completed a master’s in business at Southwest Minnesota State University in 2023, she said. While at SMSU, he was trusted enough to become manager of the school’s on-campus food shelf, one of his professors wrote in a letter in support of his citizenship.

A spokeswoman from SMSU confirmed Harsono attended the school and completed undergraduate and graduate degrees.

He had been working as a supply-chain manager in Marshall via Optional Practical Training, a program that allows international students a period of authorized stay after graduation to work in their field of study.

The couple also have an 8-month-old daughter.

Gad, Harsono’s lawyer, argued in a hearing Thursday that her client was not a flight risk.

The immigration judge, Sarah Mazzie, appeared to agree with Harsono’s lawyer and ordered him released on a $5,000 bond.

But relief for the couple was short-lived.

The Department of Homeland Security appealed the decision and secured a 10-day stay of the release order.

“It’s turned our lives upside down,” Peyton Harsono said. “This is all a waste of taxpayer money.”

The first time she saw her husband after federal agents took him away, it was through plexiglass at Kandiyohi County jail on March 29.

For a few minutes, they just sobbed, she said.

“He just said he doesn’t understand what’s going on,” she said. “And that he’s sorry for being away from us, and he misses us.”